Drag conveyer discharge



July 18, 1933. A. PLAUSICS DRAG CONVEYER DISCHARGE Filed June 5, 1931 u m W E:

INVENTOR:

A PLAUSICS sviw ATTORNEY Patented July 18, 1933 warren STA TBS PATENT CI Y ALEXANDER PLAUSICS, or BRONX, NEW YORK, AssIeNon TOTHE wns'rnim UNION v TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A' conronarion or "nnwfYonx DRAG convnYnR DISCHARGE Application filed June 5, 1931 Serial No. 542,410. y

This invention relates to drag conveyors, more particularly to drag conveyors for conveying sheet material; and it has' for an object to provide a selective arrangement-for enabling a drag conveyer to communicate with any one of a plurality of other conveyors or material handling apparatus.

The selective arrangement is preferably in the form of a swinging section of the cona voyer pivoted atone end so that the other end may be moved from one position to another to communicate with any one of a plurality of other conveyers or material handling apparatus, and having means to set the movable end of the section in any desired one of the positions.

The type of drag conveyer to which this invention is particularly adaptable comprises a conveyer channel having. ab'ottom and outwardly flaring side portions and a belt arrangedto travel along said channel in engagement with the bottom and arranged to convey sheet material between the belt and the channel by frictional engagement 'ith the belt. Conveyers of this type have gone into extensive commercial use in connection with handling telegram blanks, messages, letters or other sheetmaterial in oflice buildings and the like. One field of extensive use is in connection with the conveyer systems employed in district or relay ofiices of commercial communication where the messages that arereceived in one ection of the building may have to be transl to an their section of the building to 1 out over the proper communication cannon The conveyor system is employed in collecting the messages and routing the same to the proper section for dispatching.

In such conveyer systems, the telegram blanks or messages to be transferred to other sections of the building are deposited into collecting conveyers of any suitable type, which discl'iarge into one or more pick-up conve rs leading to a" distribution center or concerns the distribution; center theimessages are as-K sorted'and deposited in routingv conveyors \VlllCll discharge 1nto suitable dellvery conveyers by which'they are delivered to the proper sectionof the building for dispatching. I.

' Various; applications of this invention may be made to conveyer'systems of the foregoing,

type. However, forthepurposesof illustra-v tion only oneor two examples willfbe given. As oneexa'mple, this invention maybe effectively applied to a system employing'asingle conveyer run as the trunk line leading from the pick-up conveyers-to the distribution center continuously throughout the day, where the number of messages coming over such route will vary-with the amount of business done during different hours of thelday. v In other words, the business during the most active day hours will be at a, maximum while the business at night will drop 'ofl considerably and reachits minimum. At the height of the business hours it may require several distribution or asserting clerks to assort and route the incoming messages, while on the other hand at night one. distribution clerk would ordinarily be able to take care of the business. Under such conditions,during the daytime it would be desirable to have the incoming messages arriving atthe distribue tion center over this trunkrundischarged into a suitable conveyer which-will transfer the messages toproper sections of the distribution area available to the required num ber of clerks. On the other hand, during the night when one clerk" is taking care of the business, it wouldbe desirable to-have the messages discharged at another point into a suitable receptacle from whichthe clerk may assort the messages and either-carry themto the proper destination or reroute them over other conveyer systems.

the messages at either oft-he locations as out lined above is provided according to this invention, by arranging the trunk conveyer run to embody a downwardy extending section and by arranging the sectionto be. pivoted about its upper end sothat the loweror discharge end may be swung back and forth to movement of the discharge position the discharge over either of the two or more receivers provided for the discharged message blanks.

An example of another application of this invention would be to a system in which it is desirable to route the messages from a pickup conveyer over one trunk run to a distribution center at certain times and over, an other trunk run possibly to an entirely di'fier- .ent distribution center at other times. This would be provided by arranging the piclcup conveyer to have a pivoted or swinging section arranged to discharge into an inlet provided in each of the trunk runs and means to shift the swinging section discharge from one inlet to the other.

The number of receivers into which the movable section. can be arranged to discharge is by no means limited to two. hand it can be arranged to discharge into any one of three or more receivers by suitably arranging the receivers with respect to'the section.

Furthermore, by reversing the direction of travel of the conveyer belt in the movable section the discharge end will function as an inlet and, by suitable arrangement. will provide a conveyer which will selectively receive material discharged from any one otaplurality of conveyer discharges'or other discharge apparatus. p v I I It is tolbe understood that although this invention isdescribed as being embodied in a conveyer of the drag type in which 1naterial is conveyed between a moving; belt and astationary conveyer channel, it is witl'iin scope of this invention toapply the same to other types of conveyers, such'as for example double strap conveyers or'conveyers in which the material is transported between two moving belts or other conveying elements, or to open type conveyers such as V trough conveyers. or other conveyors in which the sheet material is supported upon the coat veying element as it travels.

Therefore a more specific object this invention is to provide in, a conveyer system a pivotally mounted section arraneed to be moved back and forth for selectively conimunicating with any one of a plural y conveyersor material handling a tits.

It'has for another object to provide a drag conveyer with a pivotallymounted having a terminal at the tree d which may be adapted to either discharge or receive sheet material. I 1

Ithas for a still further object to provide means for securing themovable communieating terminal in any one of the desired positions, which means may be easily r latedto shift the terminal from one position to another. I

These and other objects are efiectedto invention as will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with On the other up for the belt roller with the belt.

the accompanying drawing forming a part 7 rangement, at the top of Fig. permitting; the

conveyer belt to carry material in either direction Referring now to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows one form 01 the'invention. I At the top is the terminus of a horizontal run of a trunk conveyer over which. the message blanks or other sheet mat al may be carried throughout the day or throughout periods in which the number of blanks carried by the conveyer var widely. A: type of conveyer is shown, which comprises an endl ss belt. 11 traveling over the horizontal section of a trunk conveyer channel 12. passing'trom the end of the horizontal section over a suitable guide roller 13. to a downwardly extending;

conveyer channel section 14, around a suitable return guide roller at the low end 03? the channel section 14: and upwardly over guide rollers 16, 1. and

and guide the latter to its rc turn run. The conveyor channels 12 and 14 are substantially identical and comprise a fiat bottom and outwardly flaring side portions.

However, a channel of any other sui able shape-may be employed. It is to be understood. that, even though the main 'ortrunk conveyor run, which might be the transporting part of the conveyer, is shown as disposed in a horizontal direction, it may as readily extend in a vertical or any suitably inclined dir ction.

The channelsection is-flattened out adjacent the direction chang ng rollers so as to permit the message blanks to-straighten out transversely and assume a longitudinally curved scape con forming: to the shape of the guide roller-as the m ssage passes over the t the lower end of the downwardly e74; idi channel section 14 a deflector plate 1 9 is supported at the outward side ott'the con veycr belt which,- together with interfere wi h the movementof the message blanks along the channel. In this type of conveyer the channel member is relatively of less width than the width or" the message blanks or other sheet material being conveyed over the outwardly beyond. the edges the sheets exten d of the channel member as they are being 18 which form a tahe- The open end of the channel and for this reason 'in the copending application of full width of the conveyer channel and haV in g a pointed upper end 2 extending upward over the conveyer belt 11 which serves to open out the sheets which may have become rolled or folded back over the edges of the belt, and downwardly projecting portionsin the form of strips 24 arranged on either side of the return roller 15. The strips 24 are bent backward to meet the shaft 21 and are secured to the shaft and form, by virtue of their resiliency, yieldable supportingmeans for the deflector plate. The portion of the strips extending beyond the roller direct the sheets downward so that they are discharged at the end vent the sheets from around the roller 15. supported by the extensions of the strips-24 following the belt 11 so that the resiliency of the material forming the strips will providea yieldable'mountfor the deflector plate so that when relatively thick or heavy sheets are carried along.

the conveyer or whcn'several sheets cling together and form several thicknesses of mat rial, the deflector'plate and belt may move outwardly to accommodate the" increased thickness of material; The deflector plate is preferably held near the back of the belt and spaced from it a suitable amount'to provide clearance between the belt and the deflector when no material is passing this point. A

yieldably supported deflector plate is described and claimed in a copending applica-. ticn of \V. J. \Vright, entitled Drag conveyer discharger deflector, SeimNo. 558,360, filed.

August 20, 1931 and assigned to The Western Union Telegraph Company. v v The downwardly extending portion of the d rag convcyer pivotally supported at its upper end about the shaft 25 which also provides a support for the guide roller 13. As shown in the drawing, the upper end of the conveyer channel 14 has a central portion cut away to form an opening for the guide roller 13 and to form 26 which extend backwardly and are coiled around the shaft 25 and secured thereto at their extreme ends. In this manner the flexibility of the flange portions may yield to permit the conveyer section to be swung back and forth, or it may be accomplished by arranging the shaft tobe turned in its bearing as the section swings.

conveyor. on edge substantially of the conveyer channel and pre The deflector plate is sitions. When it is flanges or strips- The movable conveyer section is shown in the drawing as discharging into a' V trough type conveyer 29 which carries the discharge the desired point. The of a conveyer edgewise from the discharge ofthe drag]:

conveyer and proceeds along the V trough Y ina vertical position. The drag conveyer will ordinarily discharge into the V trough conveyor during theportion of the day in which the heavy and the number of message blanks or. sheets to be handled is relatively "large. However, during periods relatively light, it may be" desirableto discharge-theblanks into a suitable receptacle from which they may be assorted andro- In the drawing 29. When blanks it is desired to discharge the message the pivoted section-of into the receptacle the drag conveyor secured in position with the discharge over the receptacle. For holding the movable section of the conveyor in the desired posit-ions a suitable arrangement such as, a.

backward or forward to anothernotch which '18 arranged at a suitable-place in the bar to hold the conveyerdischarge in the desired position. V

In order to .inore effectively direct the message blanks into the conveyor and prevent them from being blown out by cross currents of air before entering the receiver, the deflector plates 39, 40 and 41 have been I a receptacle 35 is shown positioned along side theconve'yer is brought forward and business i when the number: 7 of messageblanks or sheets to be handled 1sprovided adjacent the various discharge po end of the conveyor channel 14, it will be. necessary to'make the plates 40 and 41 mov able by a suitable pivot orhin'gemounting arranged at the lower edge." In such a. case,

beheld in the desired upthe plates may right position by any suitable means springs 42' i It is to be understood,however, that this such as invention, as already indicated, is not liuut-.

ging section arranged to cl1s-' runs or from the discharge of any other type of sheet material handling apparatus; In

Fig. 2, a diagrammatic view. is, shown ofa' desired to eXtend'the de flector plates upward beyond the discharge.

' minal of two separate conveyer sections 46 fiector plate 52 serves as and 47. The details of the conveycr sections 4.6 ands? are substantially the same as described in connection with the foregoing embodiment (Fig.1) and en'mloy similar channel members 48 in which belts ll) travel. The discharge terminals at the outer ends of each of the channels 48 embody a return roller '51 and a deflector plate 52 similar to the deflector plate 19 in Fig. 1. These terminals are arranged to discharge upwardly and deliver the message blanks substantialiv in the same non-planiforni shape which they assume while traveling along the conveyer channel.

The swinging section is provided with an inlet arrangement embodying substan tially the samefeatures .as the discharge of the sections 46 and 47. In this case the dea guide for properly directing the message blanks into the inlet of the conveyer, that is, between the moving belt and the conveyer channel. It will be observed that asshown diagrammatically in Fig. 2 the outward end of the conveyer channels 28 which are similar in each case and the outward end of the deflector plates 52 are curved away from each. other so as to provide a flared opening or inlet to properly guide the message blanks across the connectionbetween the two conveyer sections.

The swinging section 45 is held in proper position to receive the material discharged from the'desired lower conveyer section by inea'ns of a notched bar 36 having notches 37 engaging a dog member-38. When it is desired to shift the inlet .of the swinging section from its position over the discharge of one of the lower conveyers to the discharge of the other, the notched bar is lifted from the dog and the section swung over to the proper position where another notch in the bar 86 will engage the dog to hold the section in position. In case it is desired to feed the messages or other sheet material. into the inlet of the swinging section 45 by handit may be-moved to some intermediate position such as shown in dotted outline in the drawing and the'material fed upward into the inlet from a suitable tray or other receptacle.

With an arran ement such as dia ram- 'matically shown in Fig. .2 the shiftable conveyer section may be readily changed from an inlet to a discharge section by merely reversing the direction of travel of the conveyer belt. Since the inlet and discharge arrangements preferably are substantially identical in form, the communicating conveyers may be arranged to receive material from the swinging section by changing'the direction of travel. of their belts also. On the other hand, the conveyers with which. the swinging section is arranged to communicate may be 'joint about the shaft by e tending m vable s4 with. the proner conveyer of the cominunicat ing group as desired.

hen a conveyer section is to be arranged to operate to transfer materialin one direction at acertain time and in the opposite direction at other-times, it will be necessary to arrange the pivotal connection with the trunk section of the main conveyor-so that material pass around the direction changing roller from one conveyor channel to the other in either direction. Such an arrangement is illustrated in the fragmen tary detail view shown in Fig. 3. In this arran gement the sides 26 of the conveyer'channel instead of overlapping each other, as shown in Fig. 1, are a ranged to come to gether at the shaft 25 of the direction changing roller'lfl. The two channelfform ahingerl the channel sides to embody interleaving prongs bent around the roller or by any other suitable arrangement.

tem having either type of shiftable section as heretofore described may be continued. in operation while the sections are shifted or moved from one position to another. In other words the moving ofthe shiftable section from one position to another may be carried out without in any interfering with the normal. operation of the 'conveyer belt or any other part of the apparatus. Ordinarily the shifting would take place when no messages were being discharged.

In operathm, when the dowirwai no 2 ye. tem is on iting as 1 ill be so positioned that the discharge into the d receiver. sage b nlzs trai ertodover the truni; run of the conveyer alll. arrive at end of "the trunk n and be directed aroi'ud. the guide roller 13 and along the d eXten movab ction. 14: to the terminal fron'i into the se cctcd receiver. lVhcn it is d li les- VVhen the channel. sections are joined together in this manner the I l to to select diiicrent receiver the positioning bar 36 will be released from the dog 88 and the movable section of the conveyer swung backward or forward to bring the discharge terminal over the desired receiver; In this positicinn ssne'e, blanks will delivered into the scle d receiver until such time to connect with the otherfiretion is set to Ctf/llililllliifl116,"Will be conveyed from the 011 tnereo'f into the receiving end of? the shii ble sectionwhere the traveling beltwillengage the message blanks and transport them along the trunk convever run. ihe deflector plate oi: the discharge conveyor will guide the message blank into the flared opening formed between the dc- :tlector plate 52 and conveyor channel 4-8 of the Slllftttllle s ctlon thereby assuring dependable and ei'leetive transfer ofthe material. When it is desired to receive material from one of the other discharging conveyors, the shi'ltable section is moved in substantially the same manner as already described in connection withthis section operating as a discharge. a

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have provided a conveyer system with. a shiftable section which may be arranged to selectively communicate with any one oi"; a 'plurali y of conveyors or other sheet matear'at'us to either discharge into such apparatus or receive material therefrom.

In addition, I have provided apparatus which may be operated to convey material in one direction at certain times and in a reverse cirection at other times according as desired.

ill?

Furthermore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that by arranging a suitable number of selec ive disch means such as have been described herein, to branch out from a central point, a conveyer system may be constructed which will provide for renting material "trom a central point to any one of a number oi discharge points. Also a conveyer system may be constructed which will en able material to be routed from several separate points and discharged at a single point. In such systems the selective shifting of the movable discharge members may be accomplished by hand orby a suitable centrally controlled system such as electrically operated shifting means controlled from a central point, or any other suitably controlled shifting means.

- It is-to be understood in connection with I thisjinvention that, although I haveshown and described the same asapplied to drag by )e conveyors, it maybe readily applied to various other types of conveyer systems:

"il laile l have shown tl'iisiinvention but in two er-ms it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that it is not so limited but is s1 ceptible to various other changes and uic tions Jwithout departing from the such limitations shall be placed theme on as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in'the appended claims.

l claim as my invention: 4

1. In a conveyor vsystem for conveying sheet material, the combination of a drag conveyer embodying a conveyor channel and a belt traveling upon said channel forconveying sheet material between thebelt and the channel by frictional engagement with the belt said conveyerembodying a transporting section and a downwardly extending discharge section communicating with each otaer said discharge section being pivotally mounted atits upper end and provided with a discharge tl1111112tl, 2l roller adjacent the discharge terminal around which said conveyer belt passes, a guide member. associated with said belt in advance of said roller and having downwardly extending portions spaced apart-to extend on. each side of the said trough and guide member ,ex-f

roller; tending beyond the roller in the direction of travel of the conveyor belt and serving to guide the sheet material out of said conveyer, a plurality of receivers to receive material discharged tromthe conveyor terminal, guide members associated with said receivers to direct the discharged material into the receiver;

and means to selectively position the terminal to discharge material into any one of said receivers. f

2. A drag conveyerfor sheet material comprising a troughmembe'r, a belt arranged to travel in sa d trough member in contact therewith for conveying sheet material-bee tween the belt and the trough, said conveyor embodying a shiftable discharge section and a transporting section communicating with ers for the discharged material, a terminal at the end of the discharge section, means to shift the discharge section tobring the terminal overany selected one of said re; ceivers, said discharge terminal embodying a roller around which said conveyer beltv a gu de member extending to each 3. The combination of shiftable conveyer section embodying a conveyor channel havtnci'eoi'f, and l 'desire,itherefore, that said discharge section, a plurality of receivmaterial as it is discharged from the outlet of the conveyer section, a plurality of receivers including a second conveyer disposed beneath the outlet end of the shiftable conveyer section to receive the sheet material therefrom, and nieans to shift the conveyer section so that the outlet may be positioned over any one of the'receivers. v

4. In' a conveyer system for conveying sheet material the combination of a conveyer embodyinga transporting section and a dis charge section pivotally mounted at the end of the transporting section for receivingmaterial therefrom, the pivoted section being provided with a discharge terminal atthe end thereof, a common belt arranged to travel over the transporting section and the pivoted section, a belt guide roller at the junction of the transporting section, and the pivoted section and a return rollerfor the belt mounted adjacent the discharge terminal for guiding the belt in a return direction,

another guide roller adjacent the junction of the two conveyer sections for guiding the belt back along the transporting section,

means for swinging the pivoted section and securing the same with the discharge terminal in anyone of a plurality of positions and take up means provided along the return section of the belt to compensate for changes in the distances between the guide rollers of the belt occurring as the pivoted section of the conveyer is swung from one position to another. I r ALEXANDER PLAUSICS 

